Contents

Attack Power

The Attack Power is the raw damage done without the aid of elements or secondary status effects. It is important to favor raw damage over elemental damage and secondary statuses because raw damage is universal and has more weight in most cases (100 points of raw damage is worth more than 100 points of element damage).

Attack power also effects how an attack is blocked. The difference is most noted in the Sword and Shield. A weapon like the Hunter's Knife will likely have a large reel, a huge decrease in stamina, and a larger health loss when blocking an attack than a much stronger Sword and Shield, which will have a small reel, a smaller decrease and stamina, and little to no loss in health. This was discovered during an armorless test.

Affinity

Affinity is a hunter's chance to deal either more or less damage with a weapon attack. It is measured in percentages, and varies based on weapons, armor, and skills. A positive affinity means attacks have that percentage chance to use 125% attack power, while a negative affinity is the chance to use 75% attack power. Some monsters can cause a status condition which lowers affinity temporarily. Note: Affinity doesn't effect element, shelling, crag S or clust S; however, affinity does affect status-inflicting weaponry. While they may both appear under weapon element, they are considered separate in comparison to one another as far as the game coding and mechanics are concerned.

Sharpness

Sharpness is the sharpness of a melee weapon, represented by the color of the little blade near the clock on the game interface. It is a very simple scalar variable which increases attack power by a percentage.

Main Series Raw Damage Multiplier

Game Name

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

White

Purple

Monster Hunter

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.125

N/A

N/A

N/A

Monster Hunter G

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.125

1.25

1.5

N/A

Monster Hunter Freedom

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.125

1.25

1.30

N/A

Monster Hunter 2

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.125

1.25

1.50

N/A

Monster Hunter Freedom 2

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.125

1.25

1.30

N/A

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.125

1.25

1.30

1.50

Monster Hunter 3

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.05

1.20

1.32

1.50

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.05

1.20

1.32

N/A

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.05

1.20

1.32

1.44

Monster Hunter 4

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.05

1.20

1.32

1.45

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.05

1.20

1.32

1.45

Monster Hunter Generations

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.05

1.20

1.32

N/A

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.05

1.20

1.32

1.39

Monster Hunter World

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.05

1.20

1.32

? (Iceborne)

Frontier Series Raw Damage Multiplier

Red / 赤

Orange / 橙

Yellow / 黄

Green / 緑

Blue / 青

White / 白

Purple / 紫

Sky Blue / 空色

0.60

0.85

1.10

1.325

1.45

1.60

1.70

1.80

Online Series Raw Damage Multiplier

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

White

Purple

0.5

0.75

1.0

1.125

1.25

1.3

1.5

Also, the sharpness influences the chance of your weapon bounce on hard body parts of a monster. A Gravios back shell for example can only be penetrated by white, or not even purple when on a G-ranked quest. The head of a Barroth is only penetrable with blue or above, while elsewhere on its body green sharpness will work. Additionally, bouncing will prevent you from chaining attacks.

Slots

Like armor pieces, weapons may or may not have empty slots where decoration jewels can be placed to supplement a skill tree.

Element

Elements are the secondary damage that is done. Like raw damage, it is done directly. How much the element effects a monster is dependent on the monster's weaknesses. In MH3, monster's element attacks now inflict status conditions, known as Blights. The elements are fire, water, thunder, dragon and ice. Each of these Blights will cause different effects and can be increased or decreased due to weaknesses and resistances. Each link directs to a page with more specific information.

Special Attack Attribute

The types of special attack attributes that weapons may have.

Element

Description

Image

Poison

Poison is a secondary status effect that affects monsters or hunters by gradually draining health over a certain amount of time. Different monsters are affected differently by it. A monster is poisoned when purple bubbles rise from atop its head. Poison can be extracted from a monster and implemented into weapons. If an Elder Dragon that has an aura (Daora, Teostra, and Lunastra) is poisoned, its aura will be gone until the poison effect has ended. This will also disable the Chameleos' invisibility.

Sleep

Some monsters have the potential to put hunters into sleep. This allows them to get a free hit. The effects of sleeping can be increased or decreased with proper armor skills. Being hit by a monster or another hunter will instantly awaken anything that is sleeping. Sleep is also a secondary status effect that can be caused to enemies by the use of weapons or items. While an enemy sleeps, things such as sharpening, drinking potions, eating meat, or even attacking the sleeping monster can be done.

It is worth noting that while a monster sleeps, it regains lost health. However, an added advantage of putting a monster to sleep is that the next attack dealt to it deals triple damage. Placing and detonating bombs on a sleeping enemy will give it a devastating wake-up call.

Paralysis

Paralysis is a secondary status effect. This immobilizes a hunter or monster for an amount of time, allowing for free hits without fear of getting hit from either side. A hunter is paralyzed when he or she falls down frantically and yellow shock waves pass through the body. Paralysis duration can be increased or decreased by wearing armor with the appropriate skill. A creature is paralyzed when it is hunched over, and yellow shock waves pass through its body. A monster can be paralyzed by using a weapon or an item. Each monster has its own resistance to paralysis, and some stay longer than others in the stunned state.

KO

Also called dizzied or stunned. When a monster lands several hits in succession, the hunter may become stunned. He or she becomes immobile for a short time, allowing the monster to get a free hit. A hunter is knocked out when he stands unbalanced with stars circling his head. The knockout time can be diminished if by rapidly rotating the analog stick and pressing the dodge/roll button repeatedly.

In Monster Hunter 2, CAPCOM has implemented the Knockout skill in Hammers and Hunting Horns. Attacks on a monster's head will cause a yellow shockwave, and when this is done enough times, the monsters will become stunned, much like a hunter would. Monsters are helpless and vulnerable when KO'd, and most of them will fall over, allowing certain parts to be hit more easily.

Slime is an element introduced in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. Only the Brachydios can use Slime attacks, and being hit with one will induce Slimeblight. During Slimeblight, the hunter is covered with a green goo, and if the Brachydios hits with another Slime attack, the hunter will explode and take increased damage. Slimeblight will even detonate if the attack is blocked, so it is important to remove the status by rolling or by using Deodorant. In addition, Slimeblight will slowly change from green to red over time, and if it is not removed, the hunter will explode automatically.

When hitting a monster with a Slime element weapon, the attack impact will light up with three different colors, starting from green to yellow to red. When it reaches red and a few more hits are made, the next hit will cause an explosion, dealing blast damage on the target monster.